A federal judge Monday let General Motors Co. shed dozens of sponsorship deals and pricey perks that included VIP suites at international speedways, naming rights for a Lansing baseball stadium and Times Square billboards. The move frees GM from spending millions on marketing, sponsorship and promotion-related agreements that did not directly relate to the automaker's core operations. In all, GM shed 54 contracts, but it was unclear how much money the automaker -- once the nation's largest advertiser -- will save.

“The greatest tragedy in all of this is the boat racers want to come back,” he said. “The racers were looking forward to coming back. Kelowna is a beautiful place, everyone pushed for the event. It’s disappointing.”

It's tough to beat Paul Becker and Vince Xaudaro to the starting line in Unlimited Light Hydroplane Racing. They are two of the best "starters" in the series. However, while spotting those two a slight advantage at the beginning, in the end it was all Kayleigh Perkins in the UL-72 Foster Care-Change a Lifetime, also sponsored by Vitamin Water. Ms. Perkins first overcame Xaudaro, driving the UL-9 US ARMY-NAPA Auto Parts on the back stretch of the first lap and drove around Becker at the end of lap 1. She went on to an impressive victory in front of a large throng of fans along Lake Francis Case on the Missouri River at Chamberlain-Oacoma SD. It was her second consecutive victory at this race which began impressively in 2008 only to be even more impressive in 2009.